The whole mountain is my hunting ground.

Chapter 1833 The Little Lynx's First Hunt

Chickens were running around outside, and Old Mrs. Liu and Zhang Dongxue, who had just returned to the house, hurriedly ran outside.

The weather at this time of year is neither too hot nor too cold, making it a perfect time for poultry to lay eggs. Old Liu's five hens lay at least three eggs every day.

Old Mrs. Liu saved up these eggs, and once she had collected forty or fifty, she took them to the Zhao family to sell to Wang Meilan.

An egg sells for seven cents, and the money from selling these forty or fifty eggs is enough to cover their family's expenses for a month.

So Mrs. Liu and her daughter-in-law Zhang Dongxue usually treated these five old hens like the apples of their eyes.

Because poultry won't lay eggs for days if they're frightened. So even her son, who's classmates with Zhao Hong and Li Xiaoqiao, has to give way to these chickens.

At this moment, upon hearing the frantic, rapid clucking of the old hens outside, both the mother-in-law and daughter-in-law's eyes reddened.

The mother and son rushed out of the house and saw a yellow shadow leap up from their yard, sweeping over the wall and taking away the old hen that was swaying on the wall.

In an instant, both Mrs. Liu and Zhang Dongxue's eyes turned red, but as they ran out of the yard, they saw a chicken feather slowly drifting down.

"What was that thing just now?" Old Mrs. Liu asked Zhang Dongxue. Zhang Dongxue shook her head and said loudly, "I didn't see it, Mother. Was it a weasel?"

"How could that be?" In her anxiety, Old Mrs. Liu blurted out to her daughter-in-law without thinking, "Can your weasel climb over walls?"

Unlike her mother-in-law, Zhang Dongxue simply said, "Then it must be a mountain cat!"

She spoke softly, and the hard-of-hearing Mrs. Liu didn't quite hear her. She immediately waved her hand at Zhang Dongxue and said, "Don't say anything more, let's hurry up and go!"

And so, the mother and daughter joined the search for the baby lynx.

……

"Gah...gaah..."

When there are many geese, their calls are noisy and deafening. If one calls, the whole flock will follow suit.

Wang Meilan, Jin Xiaomei, and others walked behind, each holding a long willow branch, herding the flock of geese back to the village.

The geese folded their wings, took small, hesitant steps, and traveled in large groups.

As soon as the flock of geese entered the village, Jin Xiaomei and Yang Yufeng quickly took a few steps, using long willow branches to restrain the flock and control its direction, guiding it towards the Zhang family's villa.

The goose's call attracted Zhao Youcai and Xing San, who were searching for a baby lynx nearby.

When the two met up with Wang Meilan, the flock of geese had already been driven into Zhang's villa.

"Huh?" Upon seeing Zhao Youcai and Xing San, Wang Meilan was taken aback and asked with wide eyes, "What are you doing here?"

"Lan'er!" Zhao Youcai exclaimed, "Our kitten is lost!"

"What?" Wang Meilan's expression changed. "How come the kitten is missing?"

"Does anyone know what happened?" Zhao Youcai said, "We were planting scallions, and before we could even take a look, it darted off into the garden and ran away."

"So you didn't find it?" Wang Meilan asked. Zhao Youcai replied, "If we had found it, what would we be saying?"

Hearing his words, Wang Meilan wanted nothing more than to whip him with the willow branch she used to herd geese. Just then, a lynx carrying a hen in its beak came running toward Wang Meilan.

"Mom!" Ma Ling, who came out of the yard, tugged at Wang Meilan's arm with one hand and pointed at the running lynx with the other, saying, "Kitten!"

"Oh!" Wang Meilan narrowed her big eyes and said, "What's that thing it's carrying?"

While the mother and daughter were talking, the little lynx came up to Wang Meilan. It threw the dead hen at Wang Meilan's feet, and the next second its fluffy head rubbed against Wang Meilan's leg.

"Oh dear!" Wang Meilan bent down and struggled to pick up the little lynx. This little thing eats well and grows fast. It's not even a year old yet, but it already weighs 27 or 28 pounds, and it's difficult for Wang Meilan to carry it.

But after hearing Zhao Youcai say that the lynx baby was lost and that he and Xing San had been searching for it all afternoon, Wang Meilan couldn't help but feel anxious.

Seeing the little lynx that she had lost and found again, Wang Meilan felt only heartache for it. She held the chubby little lynx in her arms and gently nuzzled its face against hers.

The little lynx squinted its eyes, nuzzled Wang Meilan's chin with its nose, and gently wagged its short tail twice.

"Little cat." Ma Ling called softly from the side, and the little lynx let out a "meow." Its meow was a bit high-pitched, which made Ma Ling pinch its round face.

Li Tongyun reached out and touched the tufts of hair on the little lynx's ear, but the little lynx dodged away in annoyance.

However, the lynx, which was usually affectionate, did not like Li Tongyun, mainly because the way Li Tongyun showed it affection was something the lynx disliked.

In Northeast China, there's a term called "monkey rare," which specifically refers to the way some men like to prick their children with their beards.

Li Tongyun's ways of showing affection to the baby lynx were quite unique: she would paw at its testicles and then at its penis. Both of these methods of affection made the baby lynx very unhappy.

"Here, you can hold him." At this moment, Wang Meilan handed the little lynx to Zhao Youcai and said, "It's getting heavier and heavier, I can't hold it anymore."

As Zhao Youcai took the baby lynx, Zhao Ling joked with Wang Meilan, saying, "Sister, when you have a grandson, you'll be able to carry him even if he weighs eighty pounds."

Wang Meilan laughed heartily, and Ma Ling lowered her head shyly. When she looked down, she saw the dead chicken on the ground.

"Mom!" Ma Ling pointed at the chicken and said to Wang Meilan, "Whose chicken did this kitten bring here?"

"You little rascal!" Wang Meilan raised her hand to slap the lynx, but seeing her hand coming, the lynx instinctively squinted its eyes. Seeing its reaction, Wang Meilan couldn't bear to hit it anymore and immediately bent down and picked it up.

"Oh dear." Wang Meilan touched the chicken and felt that it was soft and warm. She immediately said, "This chicken hasn't been dead for long."

"It just killed it." As Xing San said this, he gently patted the little lynx's rump.

At this moment, Yang Yufeng and the others who were arranging the geese in the backyard came over and were quite surprised to see the little lynx in Zhao Youcai's arms and the dead chicken in Wang Meilan's hand.

"Why did it come out?" The old lady tugged at the little lynx's short tail and asked Zhao Youcai, "Did you bring it out to play?"

"No way..." Zhao Youcai had only finished half a sentence when he heard Xie Sunshi ask Wang Meilan, "Sister, where did you get such a chicken? This isn't enough for us."

Although the Zhao family members are away from home, there are still more than twenty people at home, young and old. How can one chicken be enough for all of them?
Wang Meilan smiled upon hearing this, then lowered her voice and said, "This kitten killed it, so let's not make a fuss. Let's hurry home and not let anyone see. Afterwards, when Ruhai comes back, let him inquire about who has lost a chicken, and then we'll find a way to return the money to them."

"Why is that?" Xu Chunyan asked. Wang Meilan replied, "We can't let anyone know that our cat stole a chicken, otherwise they'll blame us if anyone else loses a chicken."

Upon hearing Wang Meilan's words, Yang Yufeng hurriedly ran back to the courtyard, took out a triangular bag from the storeroom, put the dead chicken in the bag, and returned to the Zhao family.

On the way, they ran into Grandpa Zhao and Gu Yang. Gu Yang's eyes lit up the moment he saw Li Tongyun, but just as he was about to step forward, he was scared away by Li Tongyun's fierce gaze.

The group returned to the Zhao family compound and began preparing lunch. Meanwhile, the seven members of the Zhao family gang finished contacting other participating gangs and returned to their temporary dormitory.

When Zhao Jun asked Wang Qiang and the others about their gains over the past two hours, Wang Qiang, Zhang Yuanmin, Li Baoyu, Xie Chen, and Zhao Jinhui all remained silent. Only Li Ruhai said to Zhao Jun, "Brother, it seems the situation isn't too good."

"What happened?" Zhao Jun asked. Li Ruhai replied, "I talked to the managers of those ginseng gangs. They all pay tribute to the local purchasing station. When it comes to ranking and pricing, they raise the price a little, but not by much."

Hearing Li Ruhai say this, Zhao Jun whispered, "Then they weren't telling the truth."

"Yes." Li Ruhai nodded and agreed, "I feel the same way."

As he spoke, Li Ruhai stood up from the stool, clasped his hands in a fist salute to Zhao Jun, and said, "Brother, leave this to me. We still have two days here, and I'll definitely get the information about their ginseng-selling channels."

After saying this, Li Ruhai turned to Wang Qiang and the others and said, "Uncle, there will be wine at dinner tonight. Don't... don't keep talking about your mountain running business. Instead, push them to drink more. Once they're drunk, I'll be able to get some information out of them."

Hearing Li Ruhai's words, Wang Qiang nodded somewhat embarrassedly and said, "Okay, I'll..."

“No need, Ru Hai.” Wang Qiang was interrupted by Zhao Jun before he could finish speaking. Zhao Jun gestured for Li Ru Hai to sit down and then said, “Don’t rush to get information out of them. There are so many people here today, it’s not convenient to talk. If you ask me, wait until we go over there, then you can get information out of them while we drink and chat.”

When Zhao Jun said this, everyone looked at him in surprise. Li Baoyu was the first to ask, "Brother, what are we going to do there?"

"Hunting and releasing the animals." Zhao Jun told everyone about the situation of the mountain livestock in places like Lushuihe, Huazishan, and Liming Forest Farm. He didn't mention the ginseng king hidden in those places, but only said that he was going to visit other places in Lao'anzi.

After listening to Zhao Jun's explanation, Zhang Yuanmin frowned and said, "After all this time, they're still causing trouble over there. I was thinking that there are always wild animals causing trouble in our forest area."

As soon as Zhang Yuanmin finished speaking, Xie Chen chimed in, "Our forest area is what it is because of my brother Jun! Otherwise, it wouldn't be anything special!"

Upon hearing Xie Chen's words, Zhang Yuanmin, Li Baoyu, Zhao Jinhui, and Li Ruhai all looked at him in surprise.

But Jie Chen never glanced at them, only saying to Zhao Jun, "It must be said that Yong'an Forest District is blessed, with you, Brother Jun, ridding the people of harm and bringing blessings to the region."

"Hahaha..." Even though Zhao Jun wasn't a vain person, he couldn't help but feel overjoyed upon hearing Xie Chen's words.

At this moment, Zhao Jun thought, no wonder his predecessor, Xie Chen, was able to build such a large fortune; there was a reason for it.

Thinking of this, Zhao Jun suddenly realized that now that Jie Chen was following him, he had to make sure that Jie Chen's life was better than in his previous life, otherwise wouldn't he be delaying him?

Seeing Zhao Jun looking at him, Jie Chen smiled and said, "Brother Jun, we're lucky. Following you to fight evil and uphold justice is also accumulating good deeds, isn't it? Hehe..."

Xie Chen smiled sincerely, while Zhang Yuanmin, Li Baoyu, and Li Ruhai glanced at him sideways, thinking, "This kid is too good at flattering!"

……

After lunch, as the seven members of the Zhao family gang and the six members of the Shao family gang were walking back together, they saw a large Jeep and two Santanas drive in through the gate.

"Ouch!" Shao Tianpeng paused, muttering, "Old Zhang came with Sun Zhaizi? And whose car is that?"

"Brother Shao, shall we go take a look?" Zhao Jun asked. Shao Tianpeng replied, "Let's go take a look."

A group of people rushed over to greet them, and people were getting off the three cars that had already stopped.

The three cars brought out three groups of people, two of which had five people each. The leaders were all old men, who should be the Zhang and Sun gangs who came to attend the Ginseng King Conference.

The other group consisted of only three people, all around thirty years old, dressed impeccably and not like people from the mountains.

"Oh dear!" Upon seeing the three men, Shao Tianpeng and Shao Zhiqiang's expressions changed. The father and son went to greet them. Shao Tianpeng ignored his two old friends and instead greeted the three men, saying, "Boss Song, Second Boss Song, Third Boss Song, thank you for your hard work."

Upon hearing Shao Tianpeng's address to the three men, Zhao Jun immediately perked up. Judging from Shao Tianpeng's address, these three were not ginseng foremen, but rather middlemen in the ginseng trade.

Although he was a middleman, he was still a channel for the ginseng gang to sell ginseng, which could be considered a source of wealth for the gang.

"Old man, you've worked hard. Chief Shao, you've worked hard." The leader of the three clasped his hands in greeting to Shao Tianpeng and Shao Zhiqiang, and the two on his left and right followed suit.

Shao Tianpeng and Shao Zhiqiang, along with Shao Jun and others, clasped their hands in response. Afterwards, Shao Tianpeng greeted Zhang and Sun's groups.

After selling Shilong twice, the Shao family gang truly regarded Zhao Jun as a friend. At this time, Shao Tianpeng did not forget Zhao Jun either, and hurriedly introduced Zhao Jun to the three groups of people who had just arrived, saying: "Boss Song, Lao Zhang, Lao Sun, let me introduce someone to you."

As he spoke, Shao Tianpeng gestured behind him, pointing at Zhao Jun.

Zhao Jun raised his hand and clasped his hands in a fist salute, then walked to Shao Tianpeng's side, with Wang Qiang and the others following closely behind him.

Shao Tianpeng introduced Zhao Jun with the same words: "This is Zhao, the foreman of the Shibadaogangzi Forestry Bureau in Heilongjiang Province."

As soon as Shao Tianpeng said this, the eyes of the three groups of thirteen people opposite him all fell on Zhao Jun's face.

Immediately afterwards, the man whom Shao Tianpeng referred to as Boss Song laughed and said, "Is it Zhao, the foreman who sold it to the big bosses in the capital, Mu Long and Xiao Bailong?"

Upon hearing Boss Song's words, Wang Qiang, Zhang Yuanmin, and the others straightened their backs.

Although the news of a big boss in Beijing offering a reward of 100,000 yuan to buy the three dragons had not spread among the general public, it was a top priority in the ginseng industry.

Anyone who makes a living from wild ginseng, whether they are ginseng brokers or middlemen, knows this.

While others fail to fulfill the bounty, the Zhao family gang can. Isn't that a testament to their skill?

Zhao Jun smiled and said modestly, "I was just lucky, I caught the wave."

"Chief Zhao, you're too modest," Boss Song laughed. "This is no ordinary person. To be able to bring up three dragons at this time is no small feat. And you even managed to produce two seedlings, one a wooden dragon and the other a little white dragon."

Upon hearing Boss Song's words, Zhao Jun merely smiled faintly, and at that moment, Wu Baoguo arrived with his men.

His arrival interrupted Shao Tianpeng's introduction. Wu Baoguo raised his hand and clasped his hands in greeting to the three Song brothers, saying, "Didn't you say you weren't coming, Mr. and Mrs. Song?"

"Hehe..." Boss Song chuckled, glanced around at everyone, and then said to Wu Baoguo, "Chief Wu, we brothers have come here this time to discuss something important with you all!"

(End of this chapter)